The world's top provider of web search services said this week it was ready to curtail the time it stored user data to a year and a half.
LUXEMBOURG: Google's decision to scale back how long it keeps personally identifiable data accumulated from its web users is "a good step", the European Union's top security official said on Wednesday.
The world's top provider of web search services said this week it was ready to curtail the time it stored user data to a year and a half, seeking to mollify an EU watchdog that has questioned its privacy policies.
That was the low end of an 18- to 24-month period it had originally proposed to regulators in March.
"I think it is indeed a good step," EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini told a news conference in Luxembourg.
"It is good to see Google trying to meet our expectations," he said, also welcoming Google's announcement to explore ways to redesign cookies and reduce their expiration.
The European Union data watchdog, made up of national data protection supervisors of the bloc's 27 member states, said in May that Google seemed to be failing to respect EU privacy rules and asked for clarification before its next meeting in mid-June.
It is an advisory body which is independent from the European Commission.
Each time a Google user searches the web, the company gathers information about that customer's tastes, interests and beliefs that could potentially be used by third parties such as advertisers. Google shares general user statistics but is adamant it never shares personal data outside the company.
"Retention of personal data was from the very beginning one concern of the European Commission," Frattini said.
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